Tom Bowman
Tom Bowman is a NPR National Desk reporter covering the Pentagon.
In his current role, Bowman has traveled to Syria as well as Iraq and Afghanistan often for month-long visits and embedded with U.S. Marines and soldiers.
Before coming to NPR in April 2006, Bowman spent nine years as a Pentagon reporter at The Baltimore Sun. Altogether he was at The Sun for nearly two decades, covering the Maryland Statehouse, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the National Security Agency (NSA). His coverage of racial and gender discrimination at NSA led to a Pentagon investigation in 1994.
Initially Bowman imagined his career path would take him into academia as a history, government, or journalism professor. During college Bowman worked as a stringer at The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass. He also worked for the Daily Transcript in Dedham, Mass., and then as a reporter at States News Service, writing for the Miami Herald and the Anniston (Ala.) Star.
Bowman is a co-winner of a 2006 National Headliners' Award for stories on the lack of advanced tourniquets for U.S. troops in Iraq. In 2010, he received an Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of a Taliban roadside bomb attack on an Army unit.
Bowman earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from St. Michael's College in Winooski, Vermont, and a master's degree in American Studies from Boston College.
-
Naval leaders have recommended Capt. Brett Crozier be restored to command of an aircraft carrier. He was removed after complaining that the Navy was not helping his coronavirus-struck crew enough.
-
The Army says it will adhere to social distancing rules. Officials said that training will operate at "a reduced capacity," but did not offer specifics. Basic training had been paused for two weeks.
-
Dozens of Kurdish families fled to the northeast Syrian village of Tal Tamr last fall, escaping a Turkish invasion. U.S. forces help provide some security, but the families face an uncertain future.
-
Defense officials say that the hospital ship USNS Comfort will now accept patients with Covid-19. And, the acting Navy secretary has resigned over his handling of a virus-stricken aircraft carrier.
-
Right now just over 2,000 members of the National Guard are assisting governors in 27 states, but the head of the National Guard Bureau said that number could double by this weekend.
-
Following the December attack on a naval air station, the Pentagon has suspended training of all Saudi military students, as investigators conduct a review of the more than 800 students in the U.S.
-
Iran launched ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq, targeting at least two military bases. Last week Iran's top general was killed in a U.S. drone strike.
-
Iran has launched more than a dozen missiles against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. Initial damage assessments are being conducted.
-
Defense Secretary Mark Esper says U.S. troops will be repositioned in Iraq, but will not leave the country. His comments come after a letter from the U.S. military suggested a withdrawal.
-
Following the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed the top Iranian general, the U.S.-led military coalition fighting ISIS said it's temporarily stopping that fight to brace for retaliation from Iran.
-
A round-up of the biggest stories in national security this year, including Syria, North Korea and Afghanistan, and a look forward to 2020.
-
Richard V. Spencer has been terminated as secretary of the Navy, after his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes came under rebuke by the defense secretary.